Olathe ? An attorney for the man accused of killing a 19-year-old woman at a suburban Kansas City swimming pool is again seeking to remove the judge presiding over the case.

Benjamin Appleby, 30, is charged with capital murder for the strangulation death of Ali Kemp, whose father found her battered body in June 2002 in the pool’s pump room.

District Court Judge Steve Leben said Monday he would not recuse himself from the case.

Attorney Angela Keck sought to have him removed, in part because she claimed the July trial date was set to accommodate Johnson County Dist. Atty. Paul Morrison’s political schedule. Morrison is seeking to unseat Kansas Atty. Gen. Phill Kline in the November general election. The defense had sought an October trial date.